Xiaomi Mi A1 is the first smartphone from the Chinese startup to sport a dual-rear camera. But priced at Rs 14,999, that isn’t the only selling point of this phone. For this phone, Xiaomi has partnered with Google’s Android One project, which most of us thought was dead and buried. Xiaomi has announced the Mi A1, a new flagship phone largely focused on the Indian market with the tagline of “created by Xiaomi, powered by Google.” It has a 5.5-inch 1080p screen, a metal body, and a dual-camera system that includes a secondary telephoto lens for 2x zooming and portraits with shallow depth of field.
The highlight is the rear camera, which supports a ‘bokeh’ mode for those who want to take more portraits. On the design front, the Xiaomi Mi A1 continues with the same metal unibody design we’ve seen, though with muted Antenna bands on the top. On the back, it has a horizontal dual-rear camera setup, which does jut out a bit. The black version might remind some of the countless other dual-rear camera smartphones in the market like the OnePlus 5, even iPhone 7 Plus. Xiaomi is launching this in three colour variants: Black, Gold and Rose Gold, which will be made available later on.
Mi A1 is also unique in the sense this is the first phone from the Chinese player which won’t come with the company’s main MIUI installed. MIUI, the company’s customised UI skin, has been a crucial part of Xiaomi phones, and it will be missing from this pure Android phone.
Display
The Mi A1 comes with a 5.5-inch Full-HD LTPS display that amounts to 1080x1920 pixels (403 ppi pixel density) and 450nit brightness. Unlike Xiaomi's Redmi Note 4 and Mi Max 2, the screen of the Mi A1 can get really bright and also because it's not as reflective as the aforementioned phones, the Mi A1 offers better overall outdoor legibility in comparison.
Software
Xiaomi's custom ROM, aka MIUI, although it offers a seamless experience across the board, is known for some heavy skinning on top of Android, something that hard-core geeks don't really appreciate. Also, because there's third-party skinning involved, and because Xiaomi likes to update each and every device in its portfolio more or less on similar lines, the fact that users have to wait longer for updates, doesn't go down well with many. That besides the fact that the company is known to kill some key Android features just so it can maintain uniformity across its devices is a subject of much debate.
Take the Redmi Note 4 for instance. When Xiaomi launched the Redmi Note 4 in India in January, the phone shipped with Android Marshmallow (based MIUI 8). In early August, the phone started receiving the Android 7.0 Nougat update (MIUI 8.5) alongside the July Android security patch. Interestingly, the Redmi Note 4, as per a Xiaomi listing -- isn't scheduled to get Android 7.1 although an update to MIUI 9 is expected in the days to come. If Xiaomi's listing is to be gone by, chances are the Redmi Note 4 may be stuck with Android 7.0 for the rest of its life. To expect an Android Oreo upgrade from it, would be wishful thinking for now.
Performance and battery life
The Mi A1 is powered by a 2GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor clubbed with Adreno 506 GPU, 4 gigs of RAM and 64GB of internal storage which is further expandable by up to 128GB via a hybrid micro-SD card slot. The Snapdragon 625, which is also inside the company's much popular budget phone the Redmi Note 4 (as also inside the gigantic Mi Max 2), is notably the first Snapdragon 600 series chipset to be built on the power-efficient 14nm finfet process. The technology essentially allows a processor, the Snapdragon 625 in this case -- with multiple cores to hit higher clock speeds without overheating and draining the battery quickly. In layman's terms, you're more likely to get (much) better battery life and little (or no) overheating in phones powered by a chipset on the lines of the Snapdragon 625.
The Mi A1 is significantly more expensive than those phones, starting at 14,999 rupees (about $234) for a 64GB model with 4GB of RAM, but it's less than half the price of something like the OnePlus 5 or a quarter the price of an iPhone 7 Plus. It won't be a top seller for the company, then, but it represents an intriguing upmarket move for the Android One program and a potentially compelling combination of software, hardware, and price. Beyond India, Xiaomi is releasing the Mi A1 in more countries than usual, a total of 13 markets in Asia, ten in Europe, ten in the Middle East and Africa, and four in Central and South America. It'll be available on September 12th.
- 4 GB RAM, 64 GB ROM, Expandable Upto 128 GB
- 12MP + 12MP Dual Rear Camera, 5MP Front Camera 5.5 inch Full HD Display
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 64 bit Octa Core 2GHz Processor Android Nougat 7.1.2 Stock Android Version
- Android One Smartphone - with confirmed upgrades to Android Oreo and Android P
- Ultra thin and light weight cover
- Made of High Quality material
- Protect Back side from scratches, dirt and dust.
Priced from : $219
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